Monday, September 12, 2011

Healthy living…on the go!


Trying to make healthy options, while living a busy life, can seem impossible at times!  Whether you work a 9-5 desk job, or are a mom-on-the-go healthy eating habits often take a back-seat to our full planner of activities.  I was talking to a mom this past week who was expressing to me how she spends her entire Saturday’s at the ball field, watching her kids.  That’s right – from 9AM until 5PM on Saturday’s (during season) she never leaves the field!  Talk about a long day!  After a wild week of work and getting everything done, I can’t imagine spending my entire “day-off” at a ball field  --- whew!

For the first year and a half, while we lived in Virginia, I maintained my job in North Carolina and commuted back and forth.  With a 3-hour drive each way, I found myself walking out the door by 5AM each morning, and back in the door that night around 7 or 8PM.  Trying to eat healthy, and live a healthy life with this schedule seemed impossible at first, as I would grab a breakfast burrito on my way out of town, eat a candy bar and some other sugary snacks for lunch and hit up McDonald’s as I stopped for gas on the way home.  With minimal exercise throughout the day, I can safely say I was packing in hundreds of calories, and burning very few!

Do you ever feel like your life is always on the go?  Feel like you’re living out of your car, more than you are in your home?  Here are a few tips that I learned, which helped me feel healthier, in the midst of a wild life!

1.  Plan for healthy snacks.  I quickly learned that the breakfast burrito I would grab at 5AM just didn’t last, leaving me feeling empty and hungry by about 9:30/10AM. After several weeks went by I discovered the value of packing a cup of yogurt or a fruit to munch on mid-morning, as I drove to my next appointment.  The truth is that if you wake up early, and even get a protein-packed breakfast in, you still will find yourself in a slump hours later because your body needs food in order to make energy.  Think low-calorie, energy rich foods (Fruits, nuts, etc!) when packing your snacks, then, when that craving comes you’ll have something already stashed away and ready for you!


2.  Drink LOTS of water!  I feel as though I have heard a million times that often times your body feels hungry, when it is actually just thirsty for water!  BUT, did you also know that Soda’s and other beverages don’t actually quench your body’s thirst?  Try packing a water bottle, filled with ice-cold water that you can drink throughout the day.  Then, when you get that hunger craving, drink some water and wait 15 minutes before diving into your snack stash.  I bet you’ll be surprised that many times you weren’t actually even hungry in the first place.

      3.     Exercise on the go.  At Steve’s office in Virginia, many of the ladies he worked with were masters at this!  It was a usual day for me to drive up to the church finding them walking back from their lunchtime stroll outside.  They would pack their tennis shoes and spend their lunch break getting some great exercise in!  Give it a try!  The weather is getting to be beautiful outside – why don’t you try to find a break at work or during your day, and get up and walk around!

      4.     Avoid going to the junk food aisles.  Did you know that the perimeter of the grocery store is your healthiest place to be?  The more “inside” you shop, the more processed and sugary snacks you’ll find!  Whenever I head to the grocery store, I try very hard to stay out of what we call the “delicious aisles.”  You know, the ones with the Famous Amos cookies, and Doritos.  I’ve found that if I spend my time walking around the perimeter of the grocery store, (with a few exceptions, of course), I fill my cart with much healthier options.  I’ll see delicious pears and blueberries that we can use as mid-day snacks, and I forget all about the Keebler Cookies calling my name!  Then, once you get home and that craving hits, the empty calories won’t be available for you to choose.

      5.     Bring herbal tea bags with you.  Sometimes, I’m just craving a “time-out.” I just need to feel like getting away for a few minutes from the stresses of my day.  I used to run to a coffee joint and grab some delicious treat “with whip!” in order to “drink away my stress!”  It was a wonderful chance to just soothe my soul whenever my day got tough.  Well, after I looked at the calorie content of my “soothe my soul” moment, (along with the price tag!) I realized it would have been better to eat a Big Mac than it was to drink down that frappe.  Recently I’ve switched to a hot cup of herbal tea.  Not only am I drinking down some wonderful vitamins and antioxidants, but also I’m soothing my “soul” with less than a 10th of the calories and pennies for the price of hot water!   Talk about truly soothing!

What other tips do you have for living a healthy life on the go?  We’d love to hear them!

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